Sambandet mellan partisympati och främlingsfientlighet : En kvantitativ studie av hur styrkan i sambandet påverkas av nyhetskonsumtion via sociala medier/internet och politiskt intresse

Sammanfattning

In this study, we explore two factors of selective exposure and their effect on the relation between political sympathies and xenophobic attitudes in Sweden. Previous studies implies that internet and social media-platforms, as well as political interest, are two important factors behind selective news consumption in todays fragmented media landscape. Based on previous studies we hypothesised that; news consumption via social media/internet and political interest effects the relation between political sympathies and xenophobia, and that the effect is positive if the individual sympathies with Sweden democrats and negative if the sympathies lie with the Left party. The result shows that among all Swedish parties the political interested individuals tend to be less xenophobic, while the effect of sympathizing with the Sweden democrats and being political interested shows an increased level of xenophobia. The same result could be observed for Sweden democrats that consumed news via social media and internet, where an increased level of consumption resulted in increased level xenophobic attitudes. The study found no support for the effects of news consumption via social media/internet and political interest on the relation between Left party sympathizers and xenophobic attitudes.